Step 6: Contemplate philosophy (for 10 minutes)

Step 7: Open Cover, Insert Book

Use just the "sticky" side of the velcro and put a few pieces on the back side of your tablet or reader. As you can see, I only used three tabs and t...

Ereaders, like the Nook and Kindle, have revolutionized the gentle art of reading, sure. But at what cost? Can you really feel enlightened and ennobled reading Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" holding an antiseptic piece of glass and plastic? Don't you miss the feeling of holding an open book in your hand when you're reading?

In this instructable, I will show you how to create a cool book cover for your eReader or small tablet. The cover is secure enough to hold your eReader in a natural vertical reading position and it will also protect it from bumps and scratches in your purse or backpack. As a bonus, all of the buttons and ports are still accessible, so you can put your gadget right on the charger, without taking it out of its case.

Step 1: Pick the perfect book

This is the most important and time consuming part of the project. Seriously. I spent 15 minutes making the cover, and two days picking out the book.

Here are things to look for.

1. Right size. Pick a book that is just slightly larger than your gadget. In all dimensions. So, just a little longer, wider and thicker.

2. Cheap. Don't spend big bucks on an first edition "Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov or "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson. Get a cheap hardback book that you won't feel bad cutting up.

3. Cover in good condition. Its okay if it looks a little dirty or used, but find one with a solid cover that's not torn or broken.

4. Good title. Decide what sort of image you want to convey. My local used book store had dozens of Hardy Boys books that were the perfect size and condition, but I just couldn't picture myself sitting at the airport (appearing to be) reading one.

I found this cheap book club edition of "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius that was just perfect. (I have a bunch of these cheaply bound classics actually. "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens was a first runner-up candidate.)

Thanks so much for this ible. I left out the elastic strap, and instead of velcro just made some tight fitting slots. When the book is shut, it can't fall out. When it's open friction and gravity keep it in.

It's a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, so I may have to make some cutouts for the camera and a place to get the stylus out easier.

And this book was saved from being thrown out by our library, so I don't feel too bad at murdering it. (I also read it first)

So the grippers are made out of two strips of thick cardboard (It's an old lever-arch file/ring binder). They were 1cm wide and PVA glued into a right angle.

At this point I considered gluing them on and calling it done, but thought that they might not have enough friction to keep them in place, so I covered them in tape (the same 'tough tape,' which the plastic is relatively soft/grippy)

Few other comments: - I reinforced the spine with a little tough tape to help hold it together when bent all the way back. (Tough tape is like duct tape but clear) - I didn't felt the inside, because the material holding the tablet in (thick cardboard) provides a slight gap so it won't rub there. This left the place where I had removed the pages brown, while the rest of the cover was green. So I cut a strip of the cover from the first page and covered the spine with it. - The power button was getting pushed when the book was shut so I glued a pad of paper in next to it so pressure would go on the tablet frame rather than the button.

The image shows all the points above, and is the tablet resting nearly vertically in landscape.

THANK YOU!!! I have been looking around for iPad mini cases and came across iPad Book cases! This is by far the easiest to make and has got everyday tools. (Most of the others require budsaws and stuff) I can not thank you enough!

Recently brought a third gen kindle second hand just waiting for it in the post now, as I have access to more tools at my mums (I am still a beginner and she is a crafter so already has felt, a strong hole punch made for cutting through pretty much anything, etc) I will be doing this when I see her I think!

Thank you so much for this. I followed someone's suggestion about using the Command strips and while it ads a bit of extra bulk (they do sit out a bit more than velcro) it actually works better with the book I chose.

I just read this, and would like to thank you for your time. I'll be building one for my kobo aura HD, and am going to try building up a form between the back cover and the felt to fit the back of the reader, since it's not flat.

I am looking for something similar to make. I got one of those aluminum keyboards that double as a case, the only problem is when folded out. It is not that stable and if I need to shut down in a hurry, I have to clamshell it together again. Plus it is not the warmest on bare skinned laps.

But go to your local used book store and you will find plenty of trashy old physical text books and romance novels for a $1 each. Or, you can do what I did and find a cheap book that is trying to look expensive.

So, as much as I liked your instructable, I was kinda sad.. When I saw the first pic, I was like, oh crap, I have some of that series of books, and it sucks that one's getting destroyed, albeit for a good cause.. Then, I saw that it was Meditations, and was really sad, because I would love to have that one in my set.. Marcus A. was the roman emperor/general in the beginning of the movie gladiator. He is considered one of the wisest and thoughtful leaders and generals throughout history.. you should get meditations and put it on your reader.. you may like it.. otherwise it's still an ironic ode to the evolution of reading technology.. :)

Great project, thank you. Used a power drill instead of a hole punch. Glued the elastic ends to the inside back of the cover before putting on felt. Had trouble getting the elastic to adhere -- used a couple of different kinds of glue. Got it to hold eventually. Next time, might try sewing the elastic together by hand. Decorated the front cover with a stripe of grosgrain ribbon for color. All I could find was black and white elastic and my book cover is black, so wanted some color.

Thank you. It's been holding up fine so far. I was worried that my Velcro that's stuck to the felt might come off, but so far, so good. Next time I might position the ribbon so it's not partially covered by the black elastic when closed. There are a million variations and color combinations to try. If I were organized, I'd collect device information for my friends and family and make these as gifts.